Bally’s posts Q4 decreases, flat full-year results as officials point to ‘Bally’s 2.0’
In its earnings release on Wednesday (5 March), Bally’s said its Q4 group revenue was $580.4 million (£450 million/€537.9 million), down 5% YoY. The lion’s share came from its casino and resort segment which, at $324.4 million, was also down 5%.
Its international interactive division’s revenue was down 9% YoY at $214.5 million despite an 11% jump from the UK market. North American interactive, its smallest division, posted the lone YoY increase: $41.5 million, up 24% from last year.
For the full-year ended 31 December, overall revenue ($2.45 billion) and casino revenue ($1.36 billion) were both flat YoY. Both were within $1.5 million of 2023’s totals. International interactive dropped 6.5% to $909.5 million and North American interactive shot up 58% to $177.8 million.
The company cancelled its earnings call on Wednesday, marking its second straight quarter with no comments to analysts.
Flurry of activity for Bally’s in 2024
For Bally’s, the Q4 and full-year results largely mirror that of Q3, in that numbers were relatively steady amid a number of different developments. Perhaps the most notable was the company’s July buyout from hedge fund Standard General (SG), which is owned by Bally’s chairman Soo Kim.
As part of the deal, the company was merged with Queen Casino and Entertainment, also owned by SG. The new, larger casino portfolio is expected to drive more revenue in 2025 and beyond.
“Reflecting the now completed strategic transactions, the four complementary Queen casinos are poised to continue their rapid growth as they benefit from inclusion in a broader domestic gaming portfolio, with Bally’s benefiting from the expansion and diversification of our geographic profile,” CEO Robeson Reeves said in a statement.
Earnings from the Queen properties were not included in Bally’s results, but Reeves said they “combined to generate fourth quarter revenue of $57.6 million and adjusted EBITDAR of $15.2 million”. Overall, Reeves said the “new” Bally’s 2.0 is a “dynamic global land-based and online casino operator with attractive growth pipelines in US gaming”.
Optimism for future projects, issues with existing ones
The company pointed again to its ongoing projects in Chicago and Las Vegas. It noted that construction is under way for the permanent Chicago casino after receiving final master plan approval in December. The original design was rejected because of potential interference with city water pipes. No other details were given for Las Vegas besides noting that the demolition of the former Tropicana had been completed.
But with regard to current casino operations, headwinds remain. Reeves said the segment’s adjusted EBITDAR was $80.9 million, down more than 14% YoY. He said the results from its temporary Chicago casino “remain below our expectations”. Its Lincoln, Rhode Island casino is still hampered by bridge construction and its Atlantic City property is still struggling with staff turnover. All three issues were also mentioned in Q3.
President George Papanier said in a statement that “performance in our C&R segment reflects our ongoing work to unify our regional gaming portfolio, efforts which will accelerate now that the four Queen assets have been added to our business, as well as lingering pockets of relative weakness in certain portions of our geographic reach as previously noted.”
UK, North America lead digital performance
With regard to digital operations, the latest results again showed strength in the UK and North America.
Reeves said the 11% jump for UK interactive “was driven by strong player retention and uplifts from revenue optimisation initiatives”. Last quarter, Bally’s also divested its Asian interactive business and now collects licensng revenue there instead. The international interactive segment as a whole posted adjusted EBITDAR of $81.6 million, a 12% decrease YoY.
However, Reeves said that “excluding revenue recognised from divested markets and licensing revenue recognised, International Interactive revenue grew 12.9% versus the prior year quarter.”
In North America, the 24% revenue jump came despite an adjusted EBITDAR loss of $12.3 million. Over the course of the quarter, Bally’s launched its Monopoly Casino igaming app in New Jersey and its Bally Bet online sportsbook in Tennessee, with both expected to aid in future performance.
“We continue to gain strong customer support for our igaming and sports product offerings which we believe will result in positive long-term performance from this segment,” Reeves said.
Australian question still looms large
Moving forward, perhaps the biggest unanswered question for Bally’s is its reported interest in Australia’s Star Entertainment. The Australian Financial Review first reported on 21 February that Bally’s officials had travelled to meet with Star and tour its three casinos.
Star is on the brink of collapse and is hemorrhaging cash. Its shares are currently halted from trading after the company failed to submit its 1H25 results on time. Bally’s is one of multiple companies said to be circling the operator, along with private equity giant Blackstone.
On 28 February, chairman Soo Kim confirmed the AFR reports to Inside Asian Gaming and said that the company is always interested in distressed assets, calling Bally’s “corporate firefighters”.